Great Garlic Galette (recipe)

At the time that I am writing this Passover is a little less than 24 hours away from ending*, and I’m starting to daydream about all sorts of leavened goodness. For those who don’t already know Passover is an 8 day period in the Jewish calender[1] where observers remember and relive the Hebrew exodus from Egypt. Although most attention is spent on the seders[1] (ceremonial dinners) that mark the first 2 nights of the festival, there are dietary changes that accompany the whole eight-day period[2]. Most notable is abstaining from all forms of leavened flour. Although matzah is the traditional stand-in for bread, for reasons long and convuluted, this year I have both sederless AND matzahless. 😥 Fortunately being of Sephardic[3] descent I am able to eat rice and corn and beans, items that are sadly (to me) off limits for Ashkenazic[4] Jewry, so I still have plenty of variety but the fantasizing is still there. Bread, bread, visions of bread… sweet sweet bread… and muffins… and pizza crust… and pasta… oh pasta… and mmmmm chinese noooooxdles… *drool*

*ANYWAYZ*

Last night I made myself a ‘Great Garlic Galette’ from a recipe in ‘Cooking with Three Ingredients: Flavorful Food, Easy as 1, 2, 3[5]‘. It is basically a giant garlicky latke 🙂 I cut it into 8 wedges and dressed each wedge with a different condiment (mayo, dijon mustard, ketchup, mango chutney, etc.). It was sooo good 🙂 Sorry for the unfortunate pictures (a combo of cellphone and webcam) but the batteries in my digicam died and I haven’t been out to buy new ones 🙁

*well it actually ends tonight for israelis and reform jews but that’s another discussion :P*

2. Mix until the water becomes cloudy
3. Drain.
4. Wring out as much water as possible
5. Toss the potatoes with the garlic and plenty of salt and pepper

6. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat
7. Add the potatoes and press down into an even layer.

8. Cover the pan and cook about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are well-browned on the bottom
9. With the cover still on the pan, grasp the lid with a pot holder and flip the pan so that the galette falls from the pan onto the lid
10. Remove the pan and return to the heat
11. Add the remaining oil to the pan and slide the galette, brown side up, back into the pan
12 Cook uncovered 10 minutes, or until the second side is brown